EVICTIONS

An eviction occurs when a landlord legally forces a tenant to move out of a rental unit. If your landlord wants to evict you, they must give you an approved notice with an acceptable reason for eviction according to the Residential Tenancy Act.

There are four main types of eviction notices:

Day Notice for Non-Payment of Rent;

One Month Notice for Cause;

Two Month Notice for Landlord’s Use of Property; and

Four Month Notice for Landlord’s Use of Property.

10 DAY NOTICE FOR NON-PAYMENT OF RENT

Your landlord can evict you for not paying rent, even if you are only a few dollars short or one day late. If you receive A 10 Day Eviction Notice, you have five days to pay up in order to cancel the eviction. Alternatively, if your landlord is lying, you have five days to apply for dispute resolution so that you can prove to an arbitrator that you did in fact pay your full rent on time. If you choose neither of those options within five days of receiving the eviction notice, you will be expected to move out by the 10th day. See section 46 of the Residential Tenancy Act (RTA) for more information.

Direct Request: A 10 Day Eviction Notice is the most serious of the four types of evictions. If you do not pay your rent or apply for dispute resolution within five days of receiving the notice, your landlord can use the Residential Tenancy Branch’s “Direct Request” process to quickly obtain an Order of Possession without even participating in a dispute resolution hearing.

Utilities: If you fail to pay for utilities charges you owe, your landlord can give you a 10 Day Eviction Notice, but only after giving you 30 days written notice demanding payment.

No excuses: The RTA does not have any “hardship” provisions. This means that you can be evicted from your home even if you have a disability, lose your job, or it’s winter. In addition, being evicted for non-payment of rent does not relieve you of your responsibility to pay the full rent for that month. If you are evicted by the 11th day of the month, your landlord could still go after you for the entire month of rent.

ONE MONTH NOTICE FOR CAUSE

The most common reasons for receiving a One Month Eviction Notice are:

unreasonably disturbing your landlord or other occupants;

repeatedly paying rent late (at least three times within an unreasonably short period);

seriously damaging your rental unit or building;

not fixing or paying for damage caused by you, your guests, or your pets;

causing danger to your landlord or other occupants;

having too many occupants living in your rental unit;

engaging in illegal activity that negatively affects your rental unit, building, landlord, or other occupants; and

breaching a “material term” (serious rule) of your tenancy agreement and ignoring a written warning from your landlord.

There are other less common reasons for receiving a One Month Eviction Notice. For a full list, see section 47 of the Residential Tenancy Act (RTA).

As is the case with all types of evictions, you have the right to challenge this type of notice and save your housing. If your landlord is not telling the truth, or you do not think that your behaviour was serious enough to deserve eviction, you have the right to apply for dispute resolution within 10 days of receiving the eviction notice.

Repeated late payment of rent: You may receive a One Month Eviction Notice if you pay rent late at least three times within an unreasonable short period. See Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) Policy Guideline 38 for more information.

Occupant limit: Your tenancy agreement may limit the number of permanent occupants allowed in your rental unit. If so, your landlord would have a strong case for eviction if you exceeded the maximum. However, even if your tenancy agreement does not include a term about the occupant limit, your landlord can still give you a One Month Eviction Notice for Cause under section 47(1)(c) of the RTA if they believe you have moved in an unreasonable number of roommates.

MOVE OUT DATE

If you do not dispute your eviction, you have until the last day of the next month to move out (assuming you pay rent on the 1st of the month). For example, if you receive a One Month Eviction Notice on March 5th, you would have to move out by April 30th. Sometimes a landlord will list the wrong move-out date on an eviction notice. If this is the case, the notice is still valid but, according to section 53 of the RTA, self-corrects to the legal move-out date. To avoid any misunderstandings with your landlord, it can be a good idea to write them and explain the law to ensure they understand that you are not illegally overholding the rental unit. See TRAC’s template letter, Response to Illegal Eviction Notice.

EARLY EVICTION

If you are causing extremely serious problems, your landlord can ask the RTB for permission to evict you before a One Month Eviction Notice would take effect. Your landlord is not required to give you an eviction notice before applying for this type of dispute resolution hearing. However, they must provide you with notice of the hearing so that you have a chance to present evidence and defend yourself to an arbitrator.

If an arbitrator determines that it would be unreasonable or unfair to the landlord or other occupants of your building to wait for a One Month Eviction Notice to take effect, your landlord will be given an Order of Possession to take back your rental unit on an earlier date. See section 56 of the RTA for more information.

LANDLORD’S USE OF PROPERTY EVICTION NOTICES

TWO MONTH EVICTION NOTICE

According to sections 49 and 49.1 of the Residential Tenancy Act (RTA), you may receive a Two Month Eviction Notice if:

your landlord, or a “close family member” of your landlord, wants to occupy your rental unit;

your rental unit was sold and the purchaser, or a “close family member” of the purchaser, wants to occupy your rental unit; or

you no longer qualify for your subsidized rental unit.

“Close family member”: The RTA defines a “close family member” as the landlord’s spouse, or the parents or children of the landlord or the landlord’s spouse.

FOUR MONTH EVICTION NOTICE

According to section 49 of the RTA, your landlord can issue you a Four Month Eviction Notice if they plan to:

demolish a rental unit;

make major renovations that require a rental unit to be empty for an extended period;

convert the residential property to strata lots under the Strata Property Act;

convert the residential property into cooperative housing under the Cooperative Association Act;

convert a rental unit for use by a caretaker, manager, or superintendent of the residential property; or

convert a rental unit to a non-residential use.

Permits: Your landlord must obtain the necessary permits required by law before issuing you a Four Month Eviction Notice.

“Right of first refusal”: In residential properties containing five or more rental units, tenants being evicted due to renovations or repairs have a “right of first refusal” to return to their unit once the renovations or repairs have been completed.

If you are interested in being offered a new tenancy agreement for your renovated unit, provide your landlord with written notice of your intention to use your right of first refusal. This will require your landlord to, at least 45 days before the completion of the renovations or repairs, inform you of the date your renovated unit will be available and provide you with a new tenancy agreement for that effective date. Although this may sound like a great opportunity, the problem is that your landlord can set your new rent at whatever amount they desire.

There are strict penalties when it comes to this area of the law. If your landlord does not offer you a right of first refusal after you have given proper notice, they could end up owing you 12 months of your previous rent as compensation. See sections 51.2 and 51.3 of the RTA for more information.

MOVE OUT DATE

If you do not dispute a “landlord’s use” eviction notice, your move-out date will be two or four months later, on the last day of the month (assuming you pay rent on the 1st of the month). For example, if you receive a Four Month Eviction Notice on March 5th, you would have to move out by July 31st. Sometimes a landlord will list the wrong move-out date on an eviction notice. If this is the case, the notice is still valid but, according to section 53 of the RTA, self-corrects to the legal move-out date. To avoid any misunderstandings with your landlord, it can be a good idea to write them and explain the law to ensure they understand that you are not illegally overholding the rental unit. See TRAC’s template letter, Response to Illegal Eviction Notice.

COMPENSATION

Landlord’s Use of Property Eviction Notices have nothing to do with bad behaviour. For this reason, if you receive a Two Month or Four Month Eviction Notice, you are entitled to one month rent as compensation to help with the financial burden of moving. Your landlord must either pay you this money or give you the last month rent free.

Exception: The one exception is if you are being evicted because you no longer qualify for your subsidized rental unit. If this is the case, you are not entitled to any compensation.

TENANT GIVING NOTICE TO MOVE EARLY

If you want to move in to another rental unit before the two-month or four-month notice period has ended, section 50 of the RTA says that you can give your landlord 10 days written notice and move early. See TRAC’s template letter, 10 Day Notice to Move Out Early. When giving short notice to move out, you are only required to pay for the days you actually live in the rental unit. For example, if you paid the full rent for the first month of a two-month notice period, but then gave 10 days written notice and moved out before the end of that first month, your landlord must pay you back for the days you did not live there. In addition, you are still entitled to one month rent as compensation for the second month of the two-month notice period.

LANDLORD DID NOT DO WHAT THE EVICTION NOTICE SAID

Your landlord must follow through with what your eviction notice says. If your rental unit is not used for the purpose stated on the notice for at least six months, beginning within a reasonable period after the notice takes effect, your landlord may owe you 12 months of your previous rent as compensation. For example, a landlord may claim that they are moving in, but instead rent the unit to a new tenant at a significantly higher rent. If you have evidence that your landlord did not follow through with the stated purpose on your eviction notice, you can apply for dispute resolution to seek your 12 months rent as compensation. See section 51 of the RTA for more information.

FIXED TERM TENANCIES AND LANDLORD’S USE EVICTION NOTICES

If you have a fixed term tenancy agreement, you cannot be given a Two Month or Four Month Eviction Notice that takes effect before your contract has ended. If your landlord gives you this type of notice, it is still valid but, according to section 53 of the RTA, self-corrects to apply on the last day of your agreement.

You must apply for dispute resolution within these deadlines. Failing to do so means that, from a legal standpoint, you are accepting the eviction notice and agreeing to move out.

Exceptions: Arbitrators do have the power to extend a deadline to apply for dispute resolution, but not beyond the effective date of an eviction notice. Extensions will only be granted in exceptional circumstances, such as hospitalization that prevented a tenant from disputing an eviction notice on time. See Residential Tenancy Branch Policy Guideline 36 for more information.

An illegal lockout could mean that you are without access to money, medication, work tools, and personal identification. If your landlord locks you out of your rental unit, contact TRAC, the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB), a legal advocate, or a lawyer immediately. If your landlord continues to deny you access to your home, you will have to apply for dispute resolution to ask for an Order of Possession and monetary compensation. The RTB considers illegal lockouts a top priority when scheduling hearings.